Multi-purpose stake

ABSTRACT

A disposable, inexpensive, multi-purpose stake of V-shape horizontal cross section having a sharpened end for penetrating the earth and a flat end for driving therein with a plurality of spaced apertures spaced along its length and a flange extending outwardly from the free ends of each of the legs of said &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;V&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; and interchangeable attachments to be used thereon either as a screed support for concrete flat work, as a nail stake for concrete form board installations, as a tent tethering peg, or as a grade stake having a simple attachment of a banner thereto.

United States Patent 1191 I '[111 3,758,062

Caldwell et a1. Sept. 11, 1973 [54] MULTI-PURPOSE STAKE 2,150,291 3/1939Paque 256/57 3,401,497 9/1968 Gre 0 et a1 52/677 [751 lnvemms: whenCaldwell, Jacksmvme; 3,561,721 2/1971 self? 52/155 Larry I. Pauline,Alexander, both of 11]. FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [73] Assignee:Grizzly Corporation, Jacksonville, 252,646 7/1964 Australia 256/57Primary Examiner-Marion Parsons, Jr.

[22] Filed: 1972 Attorney-Charles W. Rummler et a1.

21 App1.No.:243,759 .7

s7 1 ABSTRACT [52] Cl 52% fi g gz l z g 7 A disposable, inexpensive,multi-purpose stake of V- [51] Int Cl A45f3/44 6 5/16 shape horizontalcross section havinga sharpened end Fieid 87 156 for penetrating theearth and a flat end for driving 21 I29 therein with a plurality ofspaced apertures spaced along its length and a flange extendingoutwardly from 679 the free ends of each of the legs of said Vf' andinter- 5 References Cited changeable attachments to be used thereoneither as a screed support for concrete flat work, as a nail stake forUNITED STATES PATENTS concrete form board installations, as a tenttethering 1,205,227 I 1/1916 Leatherman 256/57 peg, or as a grade stakehaving a simple attachment of 1,578,612 3/1926 Scanlan 52/155 3 bannerthereto,

1,826,182 10/1931 Lee 256/57 2,004,629 6/1935 Kibler 256/57 1 Claim, 7Drawing Figures MULTI-PURPOSE STAKE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In theleveling up of grades or the striking off of concrete pavement slabs byscreeding, in the tethering of animals with a rope or chain as forgrazing, in the extending of canvas Supported by one or more poles witha rope as for tenting, or in the construction of concrete form boards,it has been customary to use wooden stakes, posts, pegs or poles. Woodenstakes, posts, pegs or poles all suffer from the same disability in thatthey do not have the strength and tenacity that is characteristic ofsteel in similar applications and under the repeated blows of a hammeror sledge, all tend to disintegrate and soon must be thrown away.Expensive lumber thus wasted, like the nailing of a banner to a woodpole to make a grade stake, is costly and does not make for job profit,and is ecologically unsound.

There is thus an economic need for an inexpensive, one-time use stakesuitable for serving such multipurpose applications as stated abovewherein the selection is made of the particular attachment chosen forthe application desired. Such a stake would in itself be a nail stakeand by simple conversion with a banner attached thereto, be a gradestake, or with an interchangeable attachment, a screed bar supportstake, at tethering post or a tent peg, as the case maybe.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The gist of this invention lies in theadaptation of a V-shaped section, thin sheet-metal stake having asharpened end for penetrating and a flat end for driving the stake intothe ground to receive a set of interchangeable attachments that serve avariety of purposes for converting the stake to either a grade or a nailstake, a tethering or a tent peg, or a screed bar support stake, as maybe desired. The stake comprises a U or V-shaped crown with the free endseach extending at right angles outwardly therefrom. A series ofapertures in the crown of the V-shaped section spaced along the lengthof the crown convert it to a nailing stake for concrete form work.

A soft plastic cap for attaching the banner to the flat end of the stakeconverts the stake to a grade stake or an advertising banner. Theattachment end of the banner enveloping the flat end of the rod has theplastic cap forcibly slid thereover securing the banner thereto.

The series of apertures in the crown of the Y-shaped section spacedalong the length of the stake also comprise the points of support of theinterchangeable attachments enumerated for the variety of specialpurposes. An open C-shaped hook of spring-steel wire having two adjacentstub sections each with extending stub-ends for insertion in theapertures in the stake converts it to a reinforcing bar holder or in aninverted arrangement to a tethering or a tent peg attachment.

An open hook of spring-steel wire having a straight length with afoldover loop at one end for clamping onto the top edge of the staketerminating in a single hooked section for snap-in insertion through oneof the apertures in the crown of the sheet-metal V-shaped.

section of the stake converts the stake for use as a screed bar supportattachment.

' BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of thestake of this invention including the reinforcing bar holder attachmentconversion, also showing in dash outline an attachment as a grade,advertising or direction stake;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a tent peg attachmentconversionof the stake;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a screed bar supportattachment conversion of the stake;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the nailing stake conversionof the stake for concrete forms;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the half-section,sheet-metal stake along line 55 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a dual stake wooden screed.bar support conversion of the stake; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a plastic cap for attachment of thebanner to the stake..

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawings, particularly FIG. 1, asheet-metal stake 10 of V-shaped cross-section having a crown 12 with aninner side 14 and flanges 15 and 16 located astride and below said crown12, as shown in FIG. 5, is provided with a sharpened end 18, as shown inFIG. 1, and a flat end 20. A plurality of spaced apertures 22 arelocated in the brown 12 intermediate of the sharpened end 18 and theflat end 20 for the reception, for instance, of one of the attachmentholders as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 or for the reception of nails N toanchor a form board F for use when laying concrete, as shwon in FIG. 4.i

A snap-in attachment made of one piece of springsteel wire converts thestake 10 to, for instance, a reinforcing rod holder by using a pair ofspaced stakes 10, only one of which is shown in FIG. 1. The attachmentof FIG. 1 comprises a clip member 24 formed by a straight back section25 having a first detent 31 which is offset in relation to and extendsinwardly in relation to the lower end thereof. A second detent 31' insaid snap-in attachment connects to and is offset in relation with andextends outwardly from and coplanar with the detent 31. A hook 27extends inwardly and upwardly from the second detent 31' at the lowerend of said straight back section 25 and terminates in a stub end 28. Astub end 26 which extends upwardly and outwardly from and connects to adetent 32 at the upper end of back section 25 terminates the upper endthereof. The stub ends 26 and 28 lie in the plane of the hook 27 and theback 25 and are separated from each other by a gap 30. The stub ends 26and 28, the detents 31 and 32 and the apertures 22 form the means ofattachment of the clip24 to the stake 10. Attachment of the hook 27thereto is achieved by compressingly springing the stub ends 26 and 28inwardly toward each other and inserting the same into the spacedapertures 22 in the stake 10. The stub ends v26 and 28 are threadedtherethrough from the inner side 14 of the crown 12 of the stake up tothe extent of thedetents3l and 32 in the clip 24, as shown in FIG.- 1.The extensible urging of the compressively sprung clip 24 secures thedetents 31 and 32 in the spring wire in the apertures. Thus one end ofthe reinforcing rod 33 may be placed on and supported by the hook 27.

A snap-in attachment made of spring steel wire for converting the stake10 to a tentor, a tethering peg using a single stake 10, as shown inFIG. 2, comprises the same clip member 24 as described above in the samegeometric relation but here attached to the stake A snap-on attachmentmade of spring-steel wire for v converting the stake for supporting oneend of a bar B which may be used as a support for one end of a screedfor leveling fluid concrete is shown in FIG. 3. Of course, a secondstake and similar attachment are needed to. support the -opposite end ofthe bar B. In

FIG. 3, the clip member 34 comprises a straight section 36 having adetent 38 at a lower end thereof which is offset and extends inwardlytherefrom and which terminates in a stub end 40 which extends downwardlyfrom and is connected to said detent 38. The stub end 40 is insertedinto one of the apertures 22 in said stake l0 and threaded from theouter side of the crown 12 thereof up to the extent of the detent 38 inthe clip 34, as shown in FIG. 3. A bent-back loop 42 which is first bentdownwardly and then back upwardly and which is offset and inwardlyextending from and connected to an upper end of said straight section 36slidably engages and tightly clamps the straight section 36 against theouter face of the crown 12 adjacent to the flat end of the top'of stake10 'in the installation of the clip member 34 to the stake 10. As thistakes place, the stub end 40 is threaded into one of the apertures 22 tosecure the clip 34 to the stake 10. A semi-loop 44 is connected tobent-back loop 42 and extends from the upper end thereof forwardly in adirection opposite to the backward direction of the bent-back loop 42and saddlably mounts one end of the tubular bar B therein.

A slide-on attachment made of one piece spring-steel wire for convertingthe stake 10 to a dual screed bar holder using two stakes 10 spacedapart and driven into the ground with their respective crowns 12 facingeach other, as shown in FIG. 6, comprises a saddle support 46 forvertical location and support of a 2 X 2 inch wooden bar W or a metalpipe or tube. Similar stakes and attachment are positioned at theopposite end of the bar W. T-win vertical side sections 48 which arespaced apart from each other a distance slightly over 2 inches and whichare connected to the ends of the saddle support 46 slidably contact thecrowns 12 of the opposed stakes l0 and locate the bar sidewise. Freeends 52 of the section 48 are bent back upon themselves to form loops 50at said upper ends of the side sections 48 and project straightdownwardly closely adjacent the side sections 48, for'slidably engagingthe inner side and outer walls forming the crown 12 of each of the dualstakes 10 thereby securing the dual screed bar support attachment to thesame.

One end of a banner 53 is placed on the flat end 20 of stake l0 andfastened thereon by a soft plastic cap 54 having a cylindrical side 56and a closed top 58, as shown in FIG. 1, for a grade stake oradvertising or directional conversion. Cap 54 is slidably engaged overthe flat end 20 of stake 10 with the banner 52 inserted therebetween forattachment thereto. The stake 10 would be hammered in the ground wheredesired and the cap and banner attached as aforesaid.

The stake of this invention is stamped out of inexpensive, low-gradesheet steel having a thickness of about 1/32 inch. As such, the stakeneed not be recovered but allowed to rust away as the total cost of thestake and appurtenances is very inexpensive.

It will be understood that the details of construction shown may bealtered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention asdefined by the appended claims.

We claim:

l. The combination of a multi-purpose stake having a sharp end and aflat end for driving into the ground comprising:

a. a pair of walls of V-shaped cross-section having a crown with innerand outer sides, and a flange e'xtending outwardly from each of the freeends of said cross-section of said walls;

b. a pair of spaced apertures in said crown adjacent said flat end; and

c. a one-piece, formed spring-wire, snap-in attach.- ment means on saidstake, said attachment means comprising:

1. a straight back section having an upper and lower end, 2. first andsecond detents offset and extending upwardly and downwardly,respectively, from and in coplanar relationship with each end of saidstraight back section, 3. a stub end extending upwardly from andconnected to said second detent in parallel relation-- ship with saidstraight back section, 4. a third detent offset and extending downwardlyfrom and connected to said first detent, and 5. a hook coplanar with thefirst detent section extending' upwardly from and connected to the thirddetent, whereby, when said stub end and said hook are inserted throughsaid apertures from the rear end of said crown, the straight backsection will be thereagainst and said stub end and said hook willextendfrom the front surface of said crown.

I a: e a: s is

1. The combination of a multi-purpose stake having a sharp end and aflat end for driving into the ground comprising: a. a pair of walls ofV-shaped cross-section having a crown with inner and outer sides, and aflange extending outwardly from each of the free ends of saidcross-section of said walls; b. a pair of spaced apertures in said crownadjacent said flat end; and c. a one-piece, formed spring-wire, snap-inattachment means on said stake, said attachment means comprising:
 1. astraight back section having an upper and lower end,
 2. first and seconddetents offset and extending upwardly and downwardly, respectively, fromand in coplanar relationship with each end of said straight backsection,
 3. a stub end extending upwardly from and connected to saidsecond detent in parallel relationship with said straight back section,4. a third detent offset and extending downwardly from and connected tosaid first detent, and
 5. a hook coplanar with the first detent sectionextending upwardly from and connected to the third detent, whereby, whensaid stub end and said hook are inserted through said apertures from therear end of said crown, the straight back section will be thereagainstand said stub end and said hook will extend from the front surface ofsaid crown.
 2. first and second detents offset and extending upwardlyand downwardly, respectively, from and in coplanar relationship witheach end of said straight back section,
 3. a stub end extending upwardlyfrom and connected to said second detent in parallel relationship withsaid straight back section,
 4. a third detent offset and extendingdownwardly from and connected to said first detent, and
 5. a hookcoplanar with the first detent section extending upwardly from andconnected to the third detent, whereby, when said stub end and said hookare inserted through said apertures from the rear end of said crown, thestraight back section will be thereagainst and said stub end and saidhook will extend from the front surface of said crown.